Trench Warfare

The Canadian government wanted to encourage men to enlist for war. They said the war would be safe, hardly any fighting, a good lark and over by Christmas. They used advertising posters to encourage this idea! A picture of soldiers going ‘Over the Top’ Trench Warfare

Posters always showed men ready and willing to fight. They never showed the boredom of the trenches or actual fighting taking place. Trench Warfare

The reality of ‘going over the top’ was very different!

How the uniform and equipment changed after just three weeks in the trenches…

The Failed Schlieffen Plan… World War I officially began with the German army storming through Belgium, into France. At the First Battle of the Marne, Germany attacks and then retreats A stalemate occurs Trench Warfare

Trench Warfare is battle in which both sides have dug trenches to stand their ground Artillery fire (cannon) was used to keep the enemy off- guard Trench Warfare

Trenches were generally holes, dug about six feet deep Trenches were a lot like a maze on both sides, with bunkers used for communications and storing ammunition Trench Warfare

Key 1.Communication Trench 2.Machine Gun Nest 3.Underground Bunker 4.Traverse 5.Wire Break 6.Listening Post + Trench Block

Conditions in the Trenches No smiling and relaxed faces… No clean uniforms… Their equipment is scattered everywhere…Boredom and sleep are obvious…

In the busier front-line sectors: – constant machine gun and artillery fire – Don’t peer over the edge of the trench Estimated 1/3 rd of the deaths for the Allied Powers were in the trenches. Conditions in the Trenches

Shell fire Germans used mortar fire (large shells that explode on impact) against the allies These shell attacks were more deadly than gunfire Conditions in the Trenches

Rats, which numbered in the millions infested the trenches These rats gorged themselves on human remains – As a result, some were as big as cats. Conditions in the Trenches

Rats continued… A single rat could produce 900 offspring, so it was impossible to get rid of them What do you think rats contributed to the trenches?

Conditions in the Trenches

Lice, another problem with the trenches – Caused never-ending itching – Clothes that were “de- loused” almost always still had lice eggs on them Condition called Trench Fever – Caused by lice – Horrible fever/severe pain Conditions in the Trenches

Trench foot: a fungal infection caused by standing in water for long periods of time Especially bad at the beginning of the war – Conditions improved in 1915 Conditions in the Trenches

Poison Gas In 1915, the Germans began to use poisonous chlorine gas in some shell attacks The poisonous gas caused violent choking spells Conditions in the Trenches

The Stench Chlorine gas from the gas attacks still lingered in many places Rotting carcasses lay around in their thousands. – For example, approximately 200,000 men were killed on the Somme battlefields, many of which lay in shallow graves Conditions in the Trenches

Pics